The Marauders and Lily
by waves9
Summary: It didn't happen over night, but Lily got to know each of them.


She met Peter first. Years later, people would assume she got to know the Marauders so well because she was Remus's friend, but she met Peter first. She was terrified to the point of trembling on September 1st. Sev had showed her how to get onto the platform and was doing his best to show her the ins-and-outs of the Wizarding World but she still felt wildly out of place. She told Sev she needed a bit of air and slipped out of their compartment. She walked through the compartments until a boy huddled up the corner made her stop. She sat down next to him in her gentle, timid way and let out a long sigh.

"I'm so glad there are other people on this train who just need to take some time to catch up with it all," she remarked softly. She waited for a bit to see if he would respond and then continued. "I mean of course, everyone's being just lovely. We've nothing to be afraid of. We wouldn't have gotten that owl if we couldn't handle whatever Hogwarts is going to throw at us. I mean honestly, we can do _magic._ " She whispered that last bit and carefully glanced at the boy. She could just see his breathing slow and the corners of his mouth twitch upward.

She stood up then and motioned for him to follow her. She led him back to the compartment where she was sitting with Sev and those other two boys who couldn't get enough of themselves. As they walked, she chattered in her comfortable Lily way, asking his name and whether he had ever done magic before. As soon as they got back to the compartment Lily heard his breathing quicken again. She nearly pushed him into the seat next to James and Sirius and said brightly,

"Peter's just told me he's going to be a Gryffindor as well and so I, of course, thought that you three should all become friends now."

James looked up at her in shock, people didn't tell him what to do. He wasn't the only one who was surprised by this statement. Peter sat with his jaw on the floor, because of course he had said nothing of the sort and - why was she being so nice to him anyway? James recovered first and quickly responded,

"Ah, yes because you think quality has to be brought to us before we will befriend it. I can smell a fellow Gryffindor a mile away."

Peter grinned and when Sirius and James went to change into their robes, he followed. After that, Peter kept following and James and Sirius kept leading. And it was really all because of one Lily Evans.

The rest of first year passed with the Marauders slowly becoming _the_ Marauders. Lily grew into herself and found her own close friends. However, every Wednesday after class she would take a walk with Peter, chattering sweetly, and asking him about his day. Peter would later remember this Lily when her son -who had her same earnest, shining green eyes- spared his life.

* * *

The others were not as easy to read as Peter, and they took more time. By the beginning of second year Lily had established herself at the top of the class, but not by much. Remus Lupin was always right behind her. Lily liked Remus, but she couldn't figure him out. He worked hard, but he would vanish for days at a time because he was 'ill' and somehow he was still right behind her in marks. She admired him for it of course, but began to think there was more to his story. No one could possibly be ill that much, could they? A couple of times, Lily tried to ask about his sickness. Every single time the normally sweet boy would disappear and a cold, blank face would reply that he had just always been sickly.

Halfway through second year, Lily decided she'd had enough. She began to track his sickness and after about 3 months the answer was glaring her in the face. What could she do? Telling Sev was out of the question - he would hate Remus for it. But he was her go-to for all questions about the wizarding world. She bit her lip and stared at her charts. Then she packed up all her books and headed to the hospital wing.

Remus could not have been more surprised when he saw the bouncing scarlet hair come skipping up to his bed. He had always felt bad for shutting her out when she asked about his illness, but he could never tell her the truth.

"Hullo!" She remarked brightly, as if it were perfectly natural for her to be here.

"Erm, hi," squeaked Remus, becoming even more perplexed as the scene unfolded.

"I've brought your homework," she started, "and my notes from class. I just, I feel awful because you take such good notes when you're in class and well you shouldn't have to struggle more just because you're not there, and well I think you're brilliant and I just want to help you because, well, you'd help me. I know you would. And I just thought, we both do well in classes why not study together?"

Remus stared at her in shock. The next thing he knew she had books lying everywhere on his bed and two sets of perfectly copied Charms notes on his bedside table. He took her proffered quill and began to work.

Lily never told Remus that she knew what he was. She figured she didn't need people telling her she was muggleborn so she left that particular bit of knowledge unshared.

Remus and Lily became quite close, running to find each other when they made a discovery that went beyond their homework, slamming books in front of each other when they were stuck on something and just needed help. Lily was different with Remus than she was with Peter, but she was just what both boys needed.

* * *

In third and fourth year, Lily remained close only with her half of the Marauders. The other two, well, they were just so _arrogant_. They were there as background noise. Not always unpleasant, but sometimes downright unbearable. It was alright though, Lily had everything she needed.

* * *

It was fifth year when Lily saw Sirius Black crying for the first time. She had just ripped open a letter from Petunia. After reading it she sprinted to the seventh floor and thought _I need a place to cry_ as she walked past the tapestry three times. Lily burst into her safe haven, only to find that someone else was already being saved. Sirius whipped around and seeing the crying Lily buried his head into his hands and started to tamper his feelings back down. Lily, figuring the damage was already done, sat down next to him.

With Peter, she would've talked about it. Tried to guess what was wrong until he spilled. With Remus, she would've have asked about a new Charm and talked with him until she could tell that he was finally cheering up. She had no idea what to do with Sirius.

"I'm going to have to Obliviate you, you know," remarked Sirius hollowly.

Lily's head shot up. She never expected him to speak first. "As long as you erase about 15 minutes before this too, I think I'll be okay with that."

Now it was Sirius's turn to be surprised. He had expected her to threaten to report him for even suggesting the Charm. Lily, as far as he knew, _hated_ him and James for pulling pranks and James's habit of asking her out.

"Lily, dear, as it cannot possibly stand up to my messed up world, I think it's best that you remember the one time people weren't falling in love at your feet."

"5 galleons," she said clearly, locking his grey eyes with her green ones.

"What?" Sirius spluttered in a rare lapse of effortless grace.

"5 galleons that my day was much, much worse than yours."

A bark of laughter escaped Sirius as he swiveled to face her. "You're making a bet with me? Lily Evans is making a best with Sirius Black." He shook his head in apparent disbelief.

Lily nodded. "And they said you were smart. Yes, Sirius, I'm betting you that I had a worse day. Shall I start us off or would you like the honor?"

"I'm quite the gentleman, so ladies first," Sirius said, with a saucy wink in her direction.

"Alright, then. Well, um, where to start?" Lily began to ramble until the whole story about her rocky relationship with Petunia just tumbled out. When she got to reading the letter she had just received Sirius actually winced as he realized Lily Evans's life wasn't so perfect after all.

She let out a deep breath when she finished. She didn't know she wanted to talk about it, certainly hadn't planned on telling anyone, but it somehow felt good to tell Sirius. She looked straight at him and and grinned,

"Your turn."

Sirius reclined back onto his elbows. Blowing out a puff of air he smirked, "Alright, but don't blame me if it's too much for your delicate ears.

Lily snorted.

"People say you come from crap, and judging by your sister, that actually might be true. But, I can guarantee that my family is way worse than yours."

Sirius never rushed his words. He told the story at a sickeningly slow pace, so every cruel detail was drawn out to hang in the air between them. He told her about his abusive parents. How he was cursed and beaten but how that didn't bother him half as much as what he had had to watch today. His voice cracked almost imperceptibly. Lily held her breath, Sirius Black never faltered. She waited as he continued.

"Today I got to watch my dear old brother, the same brother that I taught how to ride a broomstick, openly curse a muggleborn witch. To do what Mother and Father had done to me for years. To do what I had only put up with for him, to watch out for him, to protect _him_. And then I got to watch him throw it in my face so that he could tell me he was proud of what he had done, because he had made _them_ proud."

Lily didn't say a word. She opened her bag and silently passed over five galleons. Sirius took them and turned the coins over in his hands.

"Evans, love, I'm not so sure I'm the worse off here," he remarked glibly. "Why don't we go and put this money to something a little more useful?"

He stood up and offered her his hand. This would be Lily's first time sneaking out to Hogsmeade with Sirius Black, but it would certainly not be the last.

* * *

It was 6th year that James started to get frustrated. Lily was friends with all of his friends, but still couldn't look at him with anything but obvious disgust. He was pacing in their dormitory, alone. Lily had his friends right now. Or at least he assumed so. He had finally gotten back to his room after a grueling Quidditch practice to find all of his friends had left him. This normally meant they were with Lily.

They were actually. Lily had gotten it into her head the McGonagall needed to have a birthday party and that this party could only be done properly if it were planned by Gryffindors - more specifically them. She knew James would have wanted to be included and a part of her felt guilty for stealing his friends when she knew he had practice, but the other part of her reasoned that she couldn't plan a party while still being asked out every 5 minutes.

"Lily, love, may I ask why you have chosen _us_ to plan this party with? I mean I am an obvious choice, but these other two are less so. They normally kill a party," Sirius drawled from his reclined position on a couch that the Room of Requirement had so thoughtfully provided.

"Actually, Sirius, about that," Lily quickly cut across the beginnings of Remus and Peter's objections. "Professor McGonagall is a classy woman and, well, you're right, your parties have been quite something, but as a person that often has to clean up after them, I think the Professor would enjoy something a little more um….what's the word…. _sophisticated_."

"Are you implying that I'm not sophisticated?" Sirius demanded, looking highly affronted. He began to speak loudly in French, spitting words and phrases out passionately, supposedly in an attempt to prove his sophistication.

Lily looked at Remus and Peter helplessly. They just shrugged at her.

"Normally we let James handle French Sirius, as he's the only one who can actually understand what he's saying," Remus mentioned.

Lily let out a sigh and cut across Sirius's tirade. "Sirius! You know Professor McGonagall best. I hate to admit it but you are the one who is really going to be able to make this party perfect for her. You just have to make sure it will make her happy as opposed to maybe your dream party."

"Minnie and I _are_ quite chummy. And you're right, it would be useless to even attempt to please her without my help. However, I simply refuse to plan a party for my most favorite professor without her second favorite student. It just isn't fair to Minnie, and I won't have it."

"I assume you're talking about James," Lily asked flatly. When Sirius nodded she thought for a minute and then said clearly, "I suppose you're right, and we are running out of time until October 4th. He may help, but you must swear to me right here on his behalf that if he asks me out even _once_ I will make sure he never speaks again."

Two weeks after the success of McGonagall's party the five of them were once again sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Room of Requirement.

"And exactly why should I help you turn the Great Hall into a jungle?" Lily questioned them all although her eyes were locked on James.

"Because," James started patiently, "we are the Marauders -"

"Yeah, so I've heard" Lily muttered, rolling her eyes.

"AND," James continued, cutting over her interruption, "this is what we do. We make the school laugh."

"Fine," said Lily, having made up her mind. "Then here's what we need to do."

Sirius, Remus and Peter smirked at each other above Lily and James's heads as Lily began to explain exactly how she could make this prank come to life.

Throughout sixth year, Lily became an extension of the Marauders. They would still tease her and prank her occasionally, but now instead of reporting them, she would just laugh and prank them back. Soon the boys came to have great respect for her pranking abilities, as not only would she pull them off flawlessly, she never even came close to getting caught. In reality, the Professors knew she was behind Sirius Black's pink pigtails that took the combined efforts of Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Slughorn to fix, and the way James Potter couldn't let go of the Snitch for a whole week because of a cleverly placed Permanent Sticking Charm, but the way the boys had grown up just by having her around them made them all turn a blind eye.

* * *

All this extra time with Lily should have made James happy, as Remus pointed out one night as they all laid in their dormitory listening to James complain.

"Remus, what is it that you aren't understanding?" James asked as he suddenly sat up in his bed. "I have put myself in the same area as you all. I am never going to be anything more to her than a friend or even a…" he cast about for the right word, "a sidekick."

The other three laughed softly at the image of the ever confident James Potter being anyone's 'sidekick'. Hearing their laughter, James flopped back into his pillows. Silence hung between the boys as they thought about James's situation. He was still banned from asking Lily out as far as they knew. None of them wanted to ask when - _if_ \- the ban would be lifted.

Lily, for her part, had no idea that James was still obsessed with her. She had come to respect him and his brilliant mind as a byproduct of spending so much time with him, but she still considered herself closer with all the other Marauders than with James.

* * *

It was the last week of school in their sixth year, and Lily was doing her Prefect rounds. Normally, Remus patrolled with her, but it was the night after the full moon and he was still in the Hospital Wing. She hummed absently has she strolled the halls. Patrols were always the worst around exams, with everyone trying to sell some dodgy Elixir of Unparalleled Intelligence or other. She stopped suddenly when she heard hushed voices coming from an empty classroom by the Hufflepuff Common Room. She flattened herself to the wall to listen to what they were saying. She _hated_ walking into situations unprepared and needed to know what she was dealing with.

"Let's all try one more time to turn our teapots back into turtles. Remember, it's all in your focus. You all have brilliant wandwork, you just need to properly channel your power."

She knew that voice. Deep but not frightening, with a earnestness that conveyed his deep belief in his words. But what was he doing? Lily thought fast and quickly cast a Disillusionment Charm so that she could observe the whole scene without being seen. She slipped into the classroom. What she found in there were students from all houses, in all different years, all working hard to do what _James Potter_ was thoughtfully instructing them to do. She sat there dumbfounded. _James Potter_ was tutoring children in Transfiguration. That much was clear. They all had their exam tomorrow so it was natural to be up studying...but this? This was more than that. James was teaching. And from what Lily could tell, he was doing a pretty good job of it.

"James?" piped up a first year Hufflepuff from the back. James quickly stepped over to her desk, smiling a smile Lily had never seen him wear before. It wasn't his normal cocky grin, but reassuring and almost….sweet?

"I think I've really done it this time! Do you see my matchstick went pointy all the way around, it's really a needle."

James bent over to examine the needle in question. He squatted down in front of the girl so they were eye level. "Lucy," he began solemly, "this may just be the best needle I've ever seen. Professor McGonagall might just fall over in pride when she sees it." He reached over to give Lucy a quick hug and then walked quickly back to the front of the room.

"All right, kids, that's it for tonight. You've all done brilliantly, and you'll do excellently on your exams tomorrow. And if you don't, never fear, I will be all too happy to Confound your examiner into thinking that you have."

Several of the students chuckled, and even Lily's lips quirked up from her place in the corner. The kids all filed out back to their dormitories leaving only James and Lily left in the room. James began to tidy up the room, effortlessly Vanishing all evidence of them ever being there. When he was finished he pulled out a piece of parchment, muttered something to it and then turned around, stared straight at Lily and asked,

"How long have you been here, Evans? If you wanted help on Transfiguration, you know you need only have asked." His lips quirked upward at this last part in a ghost of his almost ever-present smirk.

Lily sat there shocked. How did he know she was there? She decided to worry about that later and removing her Disillusionment Charm replied, "I just caught the last bit. I had rounds tonight and wanted to make sure that everyone was going to be safe when they left this room. However, it seems I needn't have bothered. You were doing quite fine on your own."

"Praise? From _the_ Lily Evans? I must be dreaming," James quipped sarcastically. He grabbed his bag to leave, not wanting to continue any conversations with the girl who so obviously couldn't stand to be with him without three other people by their sides. "We meet every Tuesday night if you ever want to join."

"I-I," Lily faltered. Seeing James like this had surprised her and she had no idea how to respond. "I think what you're doing is actually really brilliant and I'm honestly a bit disappointed that I didn't think of it first. Next time though, use Muffliato. Then if a certain Slytherin Prefect is on duty he won't catch you."

James turned around and cracked a grin. "I'll keep that in mind. Cheers, Evans." He walked out the door, leaving Lily alone in the classroom. She sat there for a minute than rushed out after him.

"Actually, James," she called, getting his attention, "would you mind walking with me as I finished my rounds? Remus is supposed to be with me but, well, you know how he gets and I would really prefer to not have to do it on my own."

Smiling that same smile he had worn with Lucy, James nodded. "Sure, Evans." Lily rushed to catch up to him and together they walked around the castle, occasionally knocking their shoulders together as they teased and joked with each other.

* * *

That summer Lily missed her boys. She wrote to them occasionally, but they all seemed to be together, and were busy having adventures so their replies were short and sporadic.

There was a month left before school started when her parents announced they were going to France for the rest of the summer. It was their 25th anniversary and they wanted to celebrate with gusto. Or at least that's what her dad said. Lily knew he actually just wanted to give her mom one last holiday before her illness got any worse. As soon as the Evans parents waved goodbye on their way to the airport, Petunia said,

"Well, I certainly hope you don't think you can stay here with me while they're gone. Vernon will be coming over and I don't want you to put him off."

Lily was rooted to the spot in pure shock. Was she really getting kicked out of her own house? She recovered quickly, not wanting to let Petunia win. "Oh, of course I've already made plans. Just have to pop upstairs to grab my trunk." She raced upstairs before Petunia could see the tears welling up in her eyes.

Lily stood in her room, thinking fast. Mary and Dorcas were both on holiday abroad, so staying with them wasn't an option. She worked quickly packing everything away in her trunk before shrinking it. She would just get a room in the Leaky Cauldron. She had some money and oh! she could work in the restaurant to earn the rest. Yes, the Leaky was perfect. She took the bus to the London Underground and didn't shed another tear.

Tom, the owner, was only too happy to have Lily working for him. The customers loved the sprightly redhead, saying the Leaky had needed a pretty girl for a long time. Lily began to like life at the Leaky, too. She met all sorts of people and it helped her to stay busy so she wouldn't have to think too much about Petunia.

She was working the lunch crowd one day when a whistle sounded from the booth in the corner. Lily whirled around about to give the patron a colorful telling off. When her eyes landed on Sirius and the rest of their friends, she grinned and marched over to them. She was still going to tell them off, only this way would be so much more fun.

"And I suppose women just normally come when you whistle?" She demanded of Sirius, placing her palms flat on the booth so her eyes were level with his.

"Now that you mention it, love, they normally do. And with a much better attitude than yours, I must say." Sirius smirked back, happily meeting her fiery green eyes with his swirling grey ones.

The other patrons of the Leaky Cauldron were thoroughly hooked now. Lily was partially so loved because of her fiery temper, and they had never seen her challenged in this way.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lily began in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "what can I get for you _gentlemen_ today?"

"Some time off so we can go school shopping," said Remus quickly, intervening before Sirius and Lily took their joke too far.

Lily laughed. "I'll go ask Tom," she said brightly, untying her apron.

A few minutes later the five of them came tumbling out of the Leaky Cauldron laughing so hard quite a few people turned to stare at them on the street.

"Where should we go first?" asked Remus, finally recovering his wits.

"I need new robes?" suggested Lily.

Sirius groaned. "And precious Jamesie will too. He won't stop growing. However, I have had it up to here" - he motioned to a spot around his eyebrows - "with Madam Malkin trying to size me for another pair of dress robes because she can not accept that I am not in need of new robes and therefore don't need her to measure my flawless body."

"Fine, James and I will just go and get fitted really quick and then meet back with you," Lily decided rolling her eyes. James worked to hide his excitement at getting some time alone with her.

They split up, with the others deciding to go to Dervish and Banges as Sirius's Dungbomb supply was supposedly sorely deplenished.

"So have you gotten your Hogwarts letter yet?" asked James as they walked.

"Oh, bugger. Yes, it came this morning, but the pub was so busy I left it in the back and never opened it." Lily replied, smacking her forehead with her palm.

"We're not that far, you could still summon it," suggested James.

"Oh, right. You know sometimes it takes me a little while to remember that I don't have to live like a muggle." Lily said as she reached for her wand. She summoned her letter and they sat down on a bench outside of Madam Malkin's as she opened it.

"Lily, um, there's something I wanted to" James began before he was abruptly cut off my Lily's squeal.

"Oh, James. I've done it! I've been made Head Girl, and ohmygoodness who's head boy?"

'Well actually I want -"

"Oh, it had better not be Snape, James, please tell me it's not Snape."

"It's not Snape," James said patiently.

"But how can you really be sure James, I mean it could be." Lily spoke fast, her hands moving animatedly as she rushed to get words out. "He's a slimy git, but he's still really bright and gets excellent marks and-"

"Lily," James cut her off and ran his hand through his hair nervously. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I know it's not Snape because, well, because it's me." He winced as he waited for her reaction.

Stunned, Lily sat still on the bench. James was Head Boy. _James_ was Head Boy? It didn't make sense. He wasn't even a prefect. Then all of a sudden it did. James was Quidditch Captain. He was at the top of their class. He tutored kids in Transfiguration. Of course it was James. It had to be James. She grinned at him.

"Well it seems we have quite the year ahead of us." She popped up onto her feet and waltzed into Madam Malkins. James, relieved that she had taken it so well, mimicked her grin and strode in after her.

After that the boys came to visit Lily everyday. Soon she had forgotten all about Petunia and was happy just as she was.

* * *

It was October, and they had all settled into seventh year. Lily and James had the Prefect schedules down to clockwork and were enjoying having their own tower, even if the boys were always over.

They were patrolling one night when they heard a muffled scream down the hallway by the dungeons. They glanced at each other before sprinting towards it. Lily stopped short as she took in the scene before her. Lucy, the Hufflepuff James had helped with Transfiguration, was lying unconscious on the stone floor. Nott, Avery, Regulus Black, and Severus Snape stood above her with their wands drawn. James rushed to Lucy's side and started to attempt to revive her.

"Ahh, yes, James Potter, always here to save the day and play the hero. And look, he found himself a delightfully cute mudblood sidekick," sneered Avery. "Snape, why don't you show the mudblood what we do to people who get in our way."

Lily didn't wait to see if Snape would actually curse her. She couldn't trust him anymore and as much as it hurt her to admit it she knew she couldn't waste her time waiting for him to change. She threw up a Shield Charm around James and Lucy and snarled at the boys in front of her.

"I think it's time someone taught you what it feels like to have to fight someone who has a skill level far above your own minimal knowledge."

Nott and Avery both fired curses at her then. Lily brushed them away with a quick Shield Charm as easily as if she were flicking away an irritating fly. Nott and Avery shrank back towards the wall clearly surprised at her skill. Lily seized the opportunity their hesitation offered and hit them both with Stunning spells straight at their chests. Regulus stepped forward then. For a second Lily thought he was going to put his wand down. But, he soon disappointed her and raised his voice to curse her. Before he could finish, Lily had taken him down with another well-placed Stupefy. Then it was just Severus. The boy who told her about magic, who told her it wouldn't matter that she was muggleborn, that people would love her anyway.

"Lily," he started.

"No, Sev, listen to me. I am not waiting for you anymore. You have chosen your path and I've chosen mine and unless you say that you are going to walk up to Dumbledore to turn yourself and your friends in then I suggest you stop talking," Lily spoke clearly and calmly. There was a coldness to her voice that Severus Snape had never dreamed would be directed at him. They locked eyes for a moment and then both raised their wands as they prepared to duel.

The next few moments were a whirlwind of flashing lights and bangs. Lily was finally fighting someone who could rival her skill. She poured all of her focus into this fight. Her hair whipped around her as she dodged curses and jinxes flying from the wand of her childhood friend.

"I can't believe I ever _loved_ you!" she shrieked out as she narrowly escaped an jet of red light.

This declaration seemed to hit Snape rather hard. He faltered giving Lily the perfect window to hit him with her fourth and final Stunner of the night. Snape dropped to the floor. His body lay limp across those of his accomplices.

Lily stood above them. Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. She couldn't tell if she felt strong or if she was about to break. Suddenly, the sound of her name cut through her thoughts.

"Lily," James repeated urgently from his spot next to Lucy. "We have to get her to Pomfrey."

Lily rushed over and after examining Lucy for a moment quickly began muttering spells over her and waving her wand in complex patterns. James watched in amazement as Lucy began to stir. Lily gave her a small vial of potion out of her pocket and waited as Lucy gulped it down.

"Lucy," Lily began softly, taking the smaller girl's hand in her own. "Do you remember what just happened to you?"

Lucy nodded, as James looked at Lily in bewilderment.

"What happens next is up to you, alright? We can either bring you to Madam Pomfrey and tell Dumbledore about this or James and I will take care of you and Obliviate you so you never have to relive this again. No matter which choice you make, James and I won't think any less of you. You are an incredible girl and you get to choose how this affects you," Lily said all this while earnestly rubbing comforting circles into the girl's hands, trying to convey just how much she meant what she was saying.

James stared at Lily in awe. How could someone go from being a literal demon dueling people without mercy to caring for someone's needs in a way that no one else could have insight to do? He shook himself and focused on Lucy.

"Lily's right," he assured Lucy softly. "You've already had to be braver than anyone should ever have to be tonight. It's up to you, love."

Lucy looked at each of them. "I-I, I want to remember this," she said shakily, but there was a conviction to her voice that told James and Lily she really meant it. "But I don't want the whole school to know. I don't want to be the girl who got attacked."

Lily and James looked at her with pride. "Then why don't you hit these gits with the worst jinx you can think of and we'll get you back to your common room,"James suggested, smiling.

She took a deep breath and nodded. Standing over all of the motionless Slytherins, she trembled a little then she closed her eyes and waved her wand. As she worked a fluffy green moss spread over the faces of the unconscious boys. She giggled and walked over to James and Lily. James wrapped her up in a hug and then pushed her out in front of him holding onto her shoulders, so he could look her square in the eye.

"You are a great girl, Lucy. And a _brilliant_ witch. And I'm proud to know you," James said solidly, never once losing eye contact.

Lily and James walked Lucy back to her Common Room and then headed off to their own. They walked in silence, both trying to wrap their minds around what had just happened. Once they got back, James pulled Lily onto the sofa next to him and turned to look directly at her.

"Lily, what you did tonight was hands-down the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I've never seen anyone more powerful than you were dueling those Slytherins and -" James broke off as he saw tears leaking out of Lily's normally twinkling eyes. "What's wrong? Talk to me, Lily."

"It's just, why did she have to go through that? Why did we have to save her? Why don't we have a guarantee that things like that will never happen again? Why do we have to fight people that used to be our friends?" Her voice broke and she buried her face in James's chest.

James wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Lily, you know that I hate what happened just as much as you do. But I am even more grateful that she went through that here, where we could save her and help her. I am so happy that I know Lucy is strong enough and tough enough to go through that and be fine. If it ever happens to her again, she'll beat them with her hands behind her back. And you showed that you can give people way more chances than they deserve and work hard to make them see sense. You showed that at the end of the day you will put down your own feelings and do what is right even if it is unbelievably hard. And I have a feeling that with you out in the world things like that will only happen less." He stroked her hair as he spoke, relieved as her breathing slowed and she began to calm down.

She jerked her head up to face him. "I only could pull off what I did tonight because I knew you were behind me," she took a deep breath before she continued. "I knew I had to keep them off of you so that you could take care of Lucy and I knew that if I couldn't pull it off you would be there to save me."

"Lily," James chuckled, "I highly doubt you will ever need saving." Then catching sight of the shaken expression that still claimed Lily's face, he sobered up and said,"But, if you ever do, I will always be there."

"You mean that?" she asked, her voice trembling with tears.

"I mean that," he said pulling her into him once again. He pressed a quick kiss to her hairline and then whispered. "D'you want to sleep down here tonight? It's just I don't think either of us wants to be alone right now."

Lily once again jerked up to face him. Although this time her eyes, instead of shining with tears were shining with mischief. "Don't you think you'd better ask me out before we sleep together?"

James's jaw dropped. Did she just…? A quick wink from her confirmed that yes, she did. He cleared his throat, ran a hand through his hair and asked, "Go out with me?"

"Well, if you're always going to be there to save me I guess it's only practical that whenever I go out you should be with me," she grinned at him.

James grabbed her face with both of his hands and captured her lips with his. He hugged her to him and whispered in her ear, "You're amazing, Evans, you know that? But good luck ever getting rid of me now…"

Lily laughed and snuggled into his embrace as they drifted off to sleep.


End file.
